Last weekend, I was at a hotel for high-tea. There were two chefs manning the live and dessert stations. I wanted to get a slice of beef from the live station but the chef was not around. The one manning the dessert station was standing at his spot. Having stood there for a while and realizing that the chef is not coming back any sooner, I approached a waiter who was busy sorting out the cutlery and plates he just cleared.
I asked if he could arrange to inform the staff manning the live station to send me a slice of the beef when he is back.
Pointing to the one manning the dessert counter, he said "Sorry, I'm not in charge of this. Could you ask the chef?"
I approached the chef and he said he will inform his colleague. The person in charge came back and stood at the live station waiting for me to go back.
This was a small matter to me as I'm perfectly fine with going back to get the food. But it left a dent in an otherwise pleasant experience. It also reflects a deep seated problems in most organizations.
In your company, every one has his or her own area of duties and responsibilities. It is even spelt out in the employment contracts. This provides for clarity of roles and accountability. Depending on an individual's attitude towards work, there will be those with initiatives and team-spirit willing to do more. And there will be those who just do what they are employed to do. There are also unspoken rules at work - In the current economy, sometimes you have to do a lot more than what you are engaged to do. But that is besides the point.
So how do you ensure that your staff have clear roles and responsibilities without being too fixated on them, and ensuring they focus on the most important task - serving your customers?
By having a first rule "Serve the customer first."
Because ultimately, you will not have any roles and responsibilities if you do not have customers in the first place.
So instead of telling the chef that he is responsible for the dessert station, his first duty is to observe and look for opportunity to help customers. Instead of busy sorting out the used plates to be brought to the kitchen for washing, train the waiter to take responsibility to resolve guests' requests, instead of referring guests to speak to another staff.
Of course, you have to ensure your company's culture is aligned to your rule. If your staff was scolded for taking initiative, he or she is not going to do it in the future. And for staff still fixated on their roles and responsibilities, time to ship them out.